Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker

39 reviews

chloe_green090's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Medical content, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Rape

Minor: Addiction

sierrah_2101's review

challenging emotional informative reflective tense medium-paced

4.25

Robert Kolker's Hidden Valley Road is a deep cut into the way we view schizophrenia, mainly in the past half-century. His story follows that of the Galvin family, headed by Mimi and Don in which they parented 12 children - yes, 12 - where half of them are eventually diagnosed with varying degrees of schizophrenia.

For me, this book was a fairly slow start as Kolker first sets up the history between Mimi and Don, where we can already see cracks forming in their partnership. But, once Donald - their first son - was born, things quickly spiraled from there. My main appreciation for this book was Kolker's writing. Whether it comes to complicated family interactions or translating complex technical and medical discoveries for the layman. It very rarely dragged, and at times, it almost felt like time was moving too fast through the pages. I never felt lost or overwhelmed until the

gene

discoveries were made, but that's probably because my eyes glaze over during that subject at any time, so that's not Kolker's cross to bear. He also handles very sensitive topics, such as

sexual assault

, tactfully, and it's clear Kolker took great care in making his interviewees comfortable when discussing these events.

As for the downsides, there were only two major ones. One of which other reviewers have also brought up multiple times, but I wish that there was more discussion of the personal thoughts, feelings, and perspectives of other family members other than the two youngest daughters, which are Kolker's focuses throughout the story. I understand the difficulty in interviewing people with schizophrenia, especially people with as severe cases as some of the Galvin sons had, but it almost felt like half the story was missing without their opinions and ideas presented really at all. 

The other is that, despite the many decades of devoted scientific work it feels as though... Not much happened? Again, I can't blame this on Kolker at all, I went into this book understanding it wasn't going to "crack the case on schizophrenia" at all, but there sadly wasn't much more than,

"It's genetic! Don't know much more beyond that!"

that I was already fairly aware of before I cracked this open. However, it was very intriguing to learn the details, and how there's already been steps taken to "cure" schizophrenia before it can even manifest, which was properly mind-boggling. I can tell Kolker put in an immense amount of research and time interviewing to condense that much scientific labor in such a readable and condensed format, and I suppose the slight frustration with feeling like no progress has been made is also kind of the point too.

Overall, this is a fascinating and very digestible read that will leave you just as hopeful as upset with everything these parents and twelve children went through. An enlightening and humble book, I would highly recommend Kolker's work to anyone interested in the history of mental illnesses and the monumental cultural and scientific changes that America has seen in the past 60 years. 4.25/5 stars.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Mental illness, Incest, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Murder, Gun violence, Death, Suicide, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Medical content, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Emotional abuse, Drug use, War, Physical abuse, and Infidelity

ajpb's review against another edition

informative slow-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Medical trauma, Medical content, Grief, Drug use, Incest, Sexual assault, Suicide, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pedophilia, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, and Mental illness

cokester's review against another edition

hopeful informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Mental illness, Child abuse, Incest, Forced institutionalization, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Violence, and Medical content

pipbiz's review against another edition

informative sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Confinement, Bullying, Child abuse, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Mental illness

Moderate: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Pedophilia

bparkinson31's review

emotional informative reflective

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Rape, and Incest

Moderate: Infidelity, Medical trauma, Murder, Abandonment, Abortion, Addiction, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Medical content, Mental illness, Suicide, and Violence

melissahawco's review

challenging emotional informative medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Medical trauma, Medical content, Forced institutionalization, Sexual assault, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Violence, and Incest

Moderate: Murder, Cancer, and Suicide attempt

katebooklist's review

emotional informative sad slow-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Suicide, Sexual violence, Rape, Pedophilia, Emotional abuse, Death, Confinement, Sexual assault, Murder, Incest, Medical trauma, Sexism, Addiction, Medical content, Forced institutionalization, Drug use, Child abuse, Cursing, Dementia, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Misogyny, Drug abuse, Chronic illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, and Child death

annemaries_shelves's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

5.0

Hidden Valley Road as a title and a location seems fated - the perfect metaphor for all the secrets, fear, pain, and tragedy the Galvin family experienced over the decades.

I thought the blend of family biography and history of schizephrenia research (and how the two end up intersecting in the 80s onwards) was very effective. The family is large, and I appreciated the list of names (and their dates, spouses, children) and indicator at the top of each chapter on who the focus would be.

Much like the Galvins' experiences, you're in the thick of it with them and it's only at the end, years later and with the benefit of therapy and distance (physical and temporal) that you understand all the events that had to go the way they did to end up with such a unique situation. And all the ways it could've been different for everyone if the family had different resources, lived in a different time, or made different choices. Had Mimi and Don not had 12 children, or raised them differently, or if the brothers were not quite so abusive to each other and their sisters, or if the mental health care system was not the shitshow it was (and in many ways still is), etc.

Reading the book reminded me to continue unpacking my assumptions and immediate reactions -to continue navigating in that gray zone of multiple truths and causes. Almost everyone was responsible for some element of this family's experiences - and yet everyone was also a victim. Both can be true. 

If I had to quibble, I would have appreciated seeing more discussion around the cost of mental health care - it's quite experience in the States and I think an overview of how state-led and private patient care differs would be helpful for us non-American readers. Same with the income disparity between the Galvins and Garys - a deeper look at how many of the choices (or lack thereof) that the Galvins had compared to their richer friends/counterparts would have been beneficial (it was only explored in the final chapter briefly).

Hidden Valley Road is a microcosm of society and biomedical/clinical research. And much like in the book, the discussion between nature and nurture continues. We know <i>so</i> much more than we did 50 years ago (in large part thanks to families like the Galvins), but we have so far to go in terms of treatment, social supports, and destigmatizing mental illnesses like schizophrenia. 

Sidenote - I really appreciated that the author remained removed from the story. It's obvious in parts that he would've been present in those interviews/scenes, but he never includes himself as a character.

Highly recommend - but please check out the content warnings.
CW: sexual abuse and molestation of family members within the family (and separately by a priest), violence, domestic abuse (between siblings and between couples), murder, horrific treatment of mentally ill humans in the mental health care system (including restraints and sedation), discussions of mental health and illness (depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, etc.), sexism

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Murder, Pedophilia, Suicide attempt, Violence, Child abuse, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Rape, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Suicide, Alcoholism, Drug use, Grief, Medical content, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Sexism

sydneylittlefield's review

hopeful informative sad slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Incest, Medical content, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Medical trauma, Adult/minor relationship, Rape, and Sexual assault